Duban: Ex-MPs fail to prioritise education

 MADANG MP Nixon Duban has accused his predecessors of failing to realise the importance of education.

Duban last Sunday gave a cheque for K47,000 to students from the district studying at the Divine Word University  to pay for half of their tuition fees. It came from the district services improvement programme funds as approved by the joint district planning and budget priorities committee.

He said provinces such as Enga and Southern Highlands had for many years implemented subsidy schemes for their students.

Duban said there were more Engan students enrolled in tertiary institutions as a result of the education subsidy policy of their provincial government.

“In Madang we have lost focus,” Duban said.

He said Madang had national institutions of higher education such as DWU but its leaders failed to work with them to address issues confronting the district and province.

“We (leaders) are not able to see the value of these institutions,” he said. 

Duban paid tribute to the university’s founding president Fr Jan Czuba for developing a modest church institute into a leading regional university and putting Madang on the map.

Czuba said Madang was known as the tourist town in PNG but people forgot that it was also the “education town” because of the many tertiary institutions located there.